A brief history of Community Organizing:
Jane Addams: The first woman to win the Nobel Peace prize and founder of the Hull House in Chicago, a program which provided social services for people in need.
Saul Alinsky: Author of Rules for Radicals, which laid the foundation for grassroots organizing in the 60s.
César Chávez: Civil Rights activist and labor leader. Eight states currently celebrate his birthday as a holiday.
Martin Luther King, Jr.: Civil Rights activist, co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Council, and the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
These are just a handful of the people that Sarah Palin and Rudy Guilliani shat on last week when they saw fit to disparage the honorable work that community organizers do.
Now, these are some outstanding examples, to be sure. Community organizing takes place at a much smaller level as well. Community organizing is at the heart of the work that churches do, that everyday people trying to make the lives of everyday people like themselves do, that the PTA does, that voter outreach organizations do. It’s ironic that Palin, Guilliani and the rest of the GOP would make fun of community organizing because community organizing is the epitome of one of the central mantras of conservatism: pick yourself up by your bootstraps. That’s what community organizing is all about. It’s about people taking control of their lives and their communities and trying to make things better for themselves. It’s recognizing that no one is going to do for you what you won’t do for yourself. You can talk about “actual responsibilities” all you want, but the truth of the matter is that community organizing is taking the ultimate amount of responsibility–not only to yourself, but to everyone in your community.
We should all know, however, that that wasn’t what Palin and Guilliani were talking about. Picking yourself up by your bootstraps is just fine if your looking to place that same boot on the necks of people once you’re standing straight. Helping others, particularly people of color and low-income folks, to achieve what often amounts to the most basic of human needs? Well, why would anyone do that? There’s no money, no glory, no fame in that. And that is at the root of the attacks on community organizing that we’ve seen. It’s not that community organizing is bad. To be sure, Sarah Palin has done her own amount of community organizing. The problem is that many of those community organizers out there aren’t out for personal gain, aren’t out there to keep their boots on peoples necks for profit and glory. The problem is that Sen. Barack Obama was out there organizing black folks and low-income folks. And when those that traditionally have a boot against their necks start to get organized, start to get a little power, well, that’s a serious problem for some folks.
ETA: Thanks to the Afrosphere Action Coalition for organizing this Day of Blogging For Justice.
How to get Started in Community Organizing
Community Organizers Fight Back
We Are All Community Organizers
Community Organizers Against Sarah Palin
Bloggers taking part in the Day of Blogging for Community Organizing (I’ll keep updating. Leave links in comments):
African American Political Pundit
Radical Russ via Pam’s House Blend
Young Black Professional Guide
Where the Revolution’s Gonna Begin
Kevin, I’m late to this, but I’m going to post something.
elle ‘s last blog post..Thing Seen Six
Great post! You highlighted some awesome people, who stood for all of us Community Organizers!
Blessings!
regina ‘s last blog post..Day Of Blogging For Justice : Community Organizers
This is seriously a great post. Thanks much.
Keith ‘s last blog post..News for Sarah Palin; meet a few community organizers
Kevin, I am so happy that the list of bloggers joining in this effort is large and seems to be growing! Much obliged for keeping up with the list – I’ve added it to my post! Let’s keep it going!
SjP ‘s last blog post..day of blogging for justice: community organizers
You know, doing this kind of blogging (carnivals, blog events) is community organizing its self. Good job, you community organizer, you!
Elaine Vigneault ‘s last blog post..On Community Organizing
I have one up at NYCWeboy:
http://nycweboy.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/09/day-of-blogging.html
I am also chiming in at http://seekingthecranberry.blogspot.com/
Thank you for spearheading this!
[...] “In Honor of Community Organizing” [...]
I’ve got one up at WriteBlack, too: http://writeblack.com/?p=294
WriteBlack ‘s last blog post..Community organizers have inspired and written good books
[...] to Kevin at Slant Truth for organizing this day to reflect on the value, history, and diversity of community organizing. As I said already, [...]
[...] 8, 2008 Over at Slant Truth, Kevin has a collection of 40 some bloggers who wrote about the importance of community organizing [...]
Thank you, everyone, for participating and spreading the word about this. We are all community organizers and we are being heard. This has been a great day for blogging.
I posted something today at
http://momocrats.typepad.com/momocrats/2008/09/i-am-a-communit.html
Thanks for organizing this!
Sheilabd/xiaolinmama ‘s last blog post..I am a Community Organizer
Thank you for organizing this. I participated at Production, Not Reproduction:
http://unproductivereproduction.blogspot.com/2008/09/day-of-blogging-f or-community.html
Heather ‘s last blog post..It’s Been One Year
wow, I wrote about over the weekend about this subject and it is scheduled to post any minute now. I will ass your logo and link to it. Great idea!
thanks.
omg, I meant ADD your logo. that’s what happens when I violate my no typing before caffeine rule.
mamikaze ‘s last blog post..Things I Have Eaten: A Food Meme
Kevin, 3 men and 1 woman and nary a woman of color? You know I had to say something right?
thanks for putting this together, I’m looking forward to reading everyone’s.
prof bw ‘s last blog post..Community Organizers: A Small Town Girl and a Powerful Political Presence
I’m in!
Find me here:
http://gunfighter1.typepad.com/warrior/2008/09/community-organizers.ht ml
[...] Slant Truth 2.0 [...]
My post is up!
http://outtamymindwithworry.blogspot.com/2008/09/i-am-community-organi zer.html
margalit ‘s last blog post..I am a community organizer
I love the screeching from the loon left. She would never have mentioned community organizers had Obama not disparaged small town mayors. You know mayors that are concerned about budgets, police, fire and other services.
I posted about my community organization at:
http://outtamymindwithworry.blogspot.com/2008/09/i-am-community-organi zer.html
Margalit
margalit ‘s last blog post..I am a community organizer
@ProfBW: You’re right. I should have included a woman of color. Thanks for pointing it out.
Is that a troll I smell up in here?
Shoo! Shoo!
[...] their remarks came across as denigrating the work that community organizers and organizations do. Kevin at A Slant Truth explains some of the problems inherent in those ideas: It’s ironic that Palin, Guilliani and the rest of the GOP would make fun of community organizing [...]
[...] by deviousdiva September 8th, 2008 in Personal. Don’t count out the little people ! I am a community organiser. Technorati Tags: community, organiser, activism, bloggers, campaign Spread the [...]
I had to stop by and check out what you had to say about Community Organzing. I wrote Palin a letter to express my opinion. Even though you did post a woman of color in the photos, I like the links you added. Great Post!
msladydeborah ‘s last blog post..Old School Friday
Hi Kevin, thank you so much for organizing this! I know I’m a little late in the game but I was very inspired by this, so I wrote a post on my blog about being a Peace Corps Volunteer (I also happen to be a woman of color).
http://anapensativa.wordpress.com/2008/09/15/i-am-a-community-organize r
[...] the world to community organizers. To me, community organizing means helping people take, “control of their lives and their communities and trying to make things better for themselves.” PTA moms are community organizers. Pastors, imams, and rabbis are community organizers. [...]
[...] out this brief history of community organizing, which mentions organizers like Jane Addams, Saul Alinsky, and Cesar Chavez and offers lots of [...]
Thanks for this! I posted some memories of my days as a community organizer plus a history of a community organization.
SuperWeed ‘s last blog post..I Was a Community Organizer
[...] UPDATE: Kevin @ Slant Truth has links galore. [...]